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The greatest antipoverty achievement in human history is unfolding before our eyes. The percentage of people living in extreme poverty has plummeted by 80 percent in the past four decades alone. Child mortality has fallen to record lows. Whole societies where deprivation and hopelessness seemed inevitable just a generation ago now rank among the world's fastest-growing economies.

What brought about this remarkable transformation? How can we build on its success? AEI's Philanthropic Freedom Project welcomes Bill Gates for an exclusive event at AEI. In conversation with AEI President Arthur Brooks, Gates will describe philanthropy's role in reshaping the landscape of global poverty, dispel myths about development that prevent the poor from rising, and discuss his prediction that almost no countries will still be poor by 2035.

In 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates—then engaged—took a walk on a beach in Zanzibar, and made a bold decision on how they would make sure that their wealth from Microsoft went back into society. In a conversation with Chris Anderson, the couple talks about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as about their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their wealth away.

The Verge sat down with Bill Gates to talk about his ambitious vision for improving the lives of the poor through technology. It just so happens that The Verge exists to explore that kind of change — which is why Bill Gates will be The Verge’s first ever guest editor in February.